{"id":11080,"date":"2022-02-01T16:54:01","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T16:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds"},"modified":"2022-02-01T17:10:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T17:10:05","slug":"sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE<\/p>\n

PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia’s financial capabilities to sustain a modified basic income grant (BIG) amid a challenging economic environment and limited fiscal space.<\/p>\n

However, the government has given its stamp of approval for a modified BIG to beneficiaries of the food bank and of grants for marginalised communities.<\/p>\n

Mnyupe yesterday on Desert Radio 95.3 FM said there should be a balance between growing the economy and civil liberties.<\/p>\n

His sentiments come at the back of a 70% debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, and stunted economic growth which started in 2020 when the country’s economy shrunk by 8% because of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The shrinkage is officially the worst contraction since Namibia’s independence 31 years ago, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy is at least showing signs of a rebound, and this year we expect it to grow by at least 3%, but it is important to note we are growing at 3% from the heavy effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, so it is a long shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current debt-to-GDP ratio is already above 70%, so we need to grow the economy if we want to be able to take care of our people. In a state where the economy is not growing it will not be sustainable to survive on subsidies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mnyupe, who also serves as the green hydrogen commissioner, said the country’s best bet to stimulate economic growth depends on everyone getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n

In this regard Namibia is not doing well compared to other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently truck drivers were facing challenges with Botswana demanding a vaccination certificate before they entered that country. The truckers are also calling on the president to speak to his Botswana counterpart to allow them to drive through, but the issue is that if we then do not get them and everyone vaccinated they would have to find alternative routes to drive to South Africa, which would be longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would affect the price of goods and services, and inflation would be high,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

INVESTMENT FOCUS<\/p>\n

Mnyupe said the government is trying to attract investment through the green hydrogen project to stimulate economic growth, power generation, and industrial development.<\/p>\n

He said the government is working on methods to stimulate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the provision of funding and incentives as part of a cheaper and less restrictive model.<\/p>\n

He said the government will put measures in place to allow those who need the incentives to benefit, while rooting out possible flaws which could prejudice the targeted beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

POVERTY ERADICATION<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari said while the levels of poverty in the country are worrying, they are not as alarming as portrayed by the World Bank, which said more than 1,6 million Namibians are living in poverty.<\/p>\n

He said one million Namibians are beneficiaries of grants, while the old-age grant was increased in 2016.<\/p>\n

The report should have contained that information, he said.<\/p>\n

Hengari said the food bank has benefited 11 000 households across all regions of the country, reaching 60 000 individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that when we look at some of these statistics we should also relate them to our local statistics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to our own statistics, the number of people living in poverty is around 400 000.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Hage Geingob is very concerned about this, and has also been on record for saying the unavailability of housing is worrying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an issue that can be solved by everyone \u2013 not just the government, but also other stakeholders, like the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia and the financial sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia’s financial capabilities to sustain a modified basic income grant (BIG) amid a challenging economic environment and limited fiscal space. However, the government has given its stamp of approval for a modified BIG to beneficiaries of the food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-11080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nSustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia's financial ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia's financial ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-01T16:54:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-01T17:10:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-01T16:54:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-01T17:10:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\"},\"wordCount\":608,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\",\"name\":\"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds - Namibia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-01T16:54:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-01T17:10:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia's financial ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":411,\"caption\":\"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\",\"name\":\"Namibia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds - Namibia","description":"TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia's financial ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds","og_description":"TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia's financial ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds","og_site_name":"Namibia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-02-01T16:54:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-01T17:10:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":411,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds","datePublished":"2022-02-01T16:54:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-01T17:10:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds"},"wordCount":608,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg","keywords":["africa press","Africa Press-Namibia","namibia"],"articleSection":["all news","economy","homepage-english","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds","name":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds - Namibia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-01T16:54:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-01T17:10:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"TIRI MASAWI and CHARMAINE NGATJIHEUE PRESIDENTIAL economic adviser James Mnyupe has cast doubt over Namibia's financial ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-61f96957dee69.jpg","width":750,"height":411,"caption":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/sustainable-big-doubtful-amid-economic-headwinds#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sustainable BIG doubtful amid economic headwinds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/","name":"Namibia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}